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12 Instagram Accounts Worth Following During The 2017 AFCON

12 Instagram Accounts Worth Following During The 2017 AFCON

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Social media is becoming an increasingly popular medium for African soccer players and other professional sportsmen and women to interact with their fans and fellow sports personalities, with Instagram accounts gaining in popularity.

Instagram is an image-based platform that allows users to share photos with their followers, and African sports personalities are gaining followers due to their sporting fame and prowess, allowing them to connect and engage with fans on a personal level.

At a competition such as the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), fans are even more interested to follow their sporting heroes on social media platforms such as Instagram.

With this in mind, we present 12 African soccer players with Instagram accounts who are at the 2017 AFCON.

Sources: Instagram.

Aubameyang
Former African Player of the Year Aubameyang is active on Instagram – en.starafrica.com

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Gabon

The 2015 African player of the year is a popular figure on Instagram due to his sense of humour and a quirky fascination with Batman. His official handle is @aubameyang97, and he has over 3.4 million followers, while he only follows around 356 accounts on the platform. His team is now out of the AFCON, but he remains one of the most popular African players on the platform.

Gareth Southgate
Wilfried Zaha chose Cote D’Ivoire over England. Photo: independent.co.uk

Wilfried Zaha – Cote D’Ivoire

New recruit in the Cote D’Ivoire national team, Wilfried Zaha is on Instagram, with the Crystal Palace player enjoying over 319,000 followers on the image-based platform under the verified account, @longlivezaha.

André Ayew penalty
André Ayew scores for Ghana – todayafrica.com

Andre Ayew – Ghana

Just under 250,000 people follow the Ghana star on Instagram, with fairly frequent posts coming from the verified account @andreaye10. The player often posts pics of himself with teammates at national team and club level, as well as images of his family members.

Christian Atsu (Ghana)
Christian Atsu (Ghana) – Image.Net

Christian Atsu – Ghana

The supremely talented Ghanaian winger is another active Instagram from Africa. His verified account (@christianatsu) is followed by around 94,000 followers from around the globe, while he follows around 250 other accounts. His posts are often images of his family, himself in training or fellow Ghanaian soccer stars who are his close friends.

moguldom.com
Ivorian defender Aurier – moguldom.com

Serge Aurier – Cote D’Ivoire

The Ivorian defender enjoys using Instagram to keep in touch with his fans, and due to his popularity as a Paris Saint Germain and Cote D’Ivoire national team player he has around 600,000 followers. Going by @thecrazychild93, he posts many pictures of himself and team-mates at PSG, with the occasional video.

2017 AFCON
Cote D’Ivoire striker Wilfried Bony is playing at the AFCON. Photo: Gallo

Wilfried Bony – Cote D’Ivoire

Another of the Cote D’Ivoire players at the AFCON who uses Instagram, Wilfried Bony’s account is @w.bony and he has around 230,000 followers tracking his photo posts on the platform.

dhnet.be
Congolese player Mbokani – dhnet.be

Dieumerci Mbokani – Congo

His interests in fashion are immediately apparent in his Instagram posts, and the Congolese professional soccer player is an active user of the platform, posting as @dieumerci_mbokani. Over 27,500 followers find his posts in their newsfeeds.

2017 AFCON Qualification
Egypt striker Mohamed Salah is at the Nations Cup – futaa.com

Mohamed Salah – Egypt

The Egyptian striker goes by the name of @mosalah22 on Instagram, with an incredible following of over 3.6 million followers on the platform. His verified account is a mix of images that depict his personal and professional life as a soccer player who turns out for Italian club Roma and the Egyptian national team.

Riyad Mahrez in action for the Algerian national team. Photo: FourthOfficial
Riyad Mahrez in action for the Algerian national team. Photo: FourthOfficial

Riyad Mahrez – Algeria

Around 1.7 million followers follow the current African Player of the Year, Riyad Mahrez, on Instagram as @riyadmahrez26.7. The Nike athlete has not yet posted on Instagram from the AFCON, but may yet do so if the Algerians progress far in the tournament.

Quarter-final
Sadio Mane scored for Senegal at the AFCON. Photo: Kickoff

Sadio Mane – Senegal

The Senegal and Liverpool striker is at the 2017 AFCON as one of the top strikers for the Teranga Lions. His Instagram following of almost 400,000 people see image posts from the prolific attacker (@sadiomaneofficiel)in both English and French.

Mohamed Elneny
Arsenal’s Mohamed Elneny is on national duty for the Pharaohs – Arsenal.com

Mohamed Elneny – Egypt

Arsenal midfielder Elneny is at the 2017 AFCON with the Pharaohs of Egypt, but his fans will be able to join the 1.8 million followers on his official Instagram account at @elnennym, if they are wanting to keep up with the versatile midfielder at the tournament.

Keita Baldé Diao of Lazio
Keita Baldé Diao of Lazio is at the AFCON with Senegal – insidespanishfootball.com

Keita Balde Diao – Senegal

Senegalese attacking talent Keita Balde is a very patriotic player, as evidenced by his Instagram account, which showcases numerous images of the national team and his involvement with the side. Over 128,000 followers receive image posts from @keitabalde14.